Offroad-Express

having just aquired a 91 Bighorn LWB was thinking about body/suspension lift to allow for bigger tyres and being mechancially challenged dropped a line to Autokraft in PN and this was their reply:

""Hi Brian,

The most suspension lift we could possibly get out of your 1991 Bighorn is 20/25mm. The limiting factor with the suspension on your vehicle is the torsion bar front end, which won’t allow for further lift than that.

The only way to get more lift from that point would be to do a body lift off the chassis, but this will get involved and expensive as many modifications will need to be carried out to complete the job.

These may include:
- Engine radiator hoses/fan/heater hoses lengthening
- Gear selector mods.
- Lengthening brake hose/lines
- Wiring loom mods./lengthening
- Steering shaft mods.
- Hand brake cables etc…

Let me know how you would like to proceed and I will help you any way I can.

Thank you for your custom""

Does this sound okay

The torsion bars are a big limitation and if you lift too high you keep breaking CVs because the angles get too extreme. A 40-50mm body lift would be cheaper then a suspension lift, then you can fit bigger tyres.

Ive done a 40mm ish suspension lift 50mm body lift on a 87 LWB

At the front you do a ball joint flip and then crank the torsions, but yeah you would not want to go too high as said above. However I think CV breakage has a lot to do with driving style from what I have heard. Mine hasnt taken too much punishment yet.

If you pay someone to do the body lift you are goin to be very poor I reckon as its the kind of job that needs a lot of DIY and little fixes/brackets.

Heres what I had to modify/create:
Radiator drop brackets (better than changing rad hoses as it makes the fan in the right place)
Seatbelt retention bar extention brackets
Cut a bit out of the floor for the gearstick to get 2/4/R and make a custom gear stick boot, also had to cut the gear stick off and weld it on a different angle
I put new heater hoses on cause the old ones were crunchy, and as they were new they slid on well and could be fitted in a way that didnt kink (they are not cheap though as genuine items - hard to make you own due to extreme angle bends)
If you want the standard bumpers you will have to make lift brackets for them - I threw out the rear one and have a winch bar at the front which a fabrication mate of mine made lift brackets for (which would be worth a bit)

The steering shaft dosent need extending for a 50mm lift, there is enough room for movement
Brake hoses and lines should be fine
Wiring loom should be fine I just had to cut a few cable ties
Hand brake cable well thats easy as to adjust

As for price my body lift kit cost $180 and a lot of my time.

I picked up some rear lift shackles second hand for $50, and the front lift costs nothing (actually you just have to get a wheel alignment afterwards so thats $60). I did have to replace all the rear suspension bushes which cost about $50 too. It took a lot less time.

Lets see what they quote you on the body lift